Care Navigator

5 more FAQ aged care

What is the difference between Support at Home and CHSP?

The home care system is structured around how much help you need to stay independent:

Support at Home program: This program covers people with moderate to high care needs. It funds structured packages for complex needs, nursing, and daily personal care. [1, 2]
Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP): This program is strictly for entry-level, basic help. It provides individual, ad-hoc services like a weekly lawn mowing service or a monthly social outing. [1, 2, 3]
System mergers: The Support at Home program launched to replace older Home Care Packages. The CHSP program will transition into this unified system no earlier than July 2027. [1, 2]

How do pricing caps work for home care?

The government regulates what providers can charge to protect your funding from excessive fees: [1]

Mandatory price limits: Providers must adhere to strictly enforced, mandatory government price caps.[1]
Zero hidden fees: Providers are legally banned from charging separate administration, sign-up, or exit fees. [1]
Unspent fund rules: You do not lose your unused funds immediately; you can carry over the higher of $1,000 or 10% of your package budget each quarter. [1]

What are the annual and lifetime fee caps?

To protect your family from catastrophic care costs, the government places legal limits on means-tested fees:[1]

Annual limits: Once you pay $35,910.43 within your specific care year, your means-tested care fee drops to zero for the rest of that year. [1]
Lifetime limits: Once you reach $86,185.23 in cumulative payments across your lifetime, you will never pay a means-tested care fee again. [1]
Automatic transition: Services Australia tracks these totals automatically and notifies your provider when to stop charging you. [1]

What is a RAD and a DAP in residential care?

When moving into an aged care facility, accommodation costs are split into two payment options: [1]

Refundable Accommodation Deposit (RAD): This is a lump-sum room payment that acts like an interest-free loan to the facility. The entire balance is 100% government-guaranteed and fully refunded to your estate when you leave.
Daily Accommodation Payment (DAP): This is a periodic, non-refundable interest payment calculated against the price of the room. It acts exactly like paying daily rent.
Combination choices: You can choose to pay 100% RAD, 100% DAP, or a customized combination of both to suit your financial situation. [1]

Is the family home protected during means testing?

Your principal residence receives special protections, meaning you are rarely forced to sell it to pay for care:[1]

Protected partners: Your home is completely exempt from the asset test if a protected person (like a spouse or dependent child) continues living there.
Asset value caps: If the home is not occupied by a protected person, its entire market value is not counted. Instead, it is capped at a maximum assessable asset value of $201,231.20 when calculating your fees.
- Pension exemptions: The home remains fully exempt from the standard Age Pension assets test while you reside in it.